Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

Paper from Rice Straw
Cyprus, Commercial
Crop
Residue
Process
Rice
Rice Straw
Reuse and Recycle /Paper Pulping
Equipment A rustproof pail.
A stainless steel pot.
A mortar and pestle or bat and board.
A large boiling pot.
A sharp knife.
Wood ash, which may from your fireplace.
Rubber gloves.
Sieves
Main Product
By products
Fiber
Paper
Technical Description of Technology
Rice Straw Pulping
1. Preparing rice straw - Strip off the grass leaves. The nodes in stem
aren't great for papermaking. Chop them off and use only the straight
stiff segments of stems between nodes. Cut the rice straw about 1 inch
long.
2. Soaking - Soak the straw in a pail of cold water at least overnight.
Chinese papermakers used soak them for a week. When the water
turns yellowish brown with pigment leaching out of the stems, change
the water a few times during the soaking. Then rinse the soaked straw
thoroughly.
3. Making a caustic solution - Wood ash is time consuming, but may yield
better paper due to gentle cooking action and tendency to rinse out
easily. The measurement of wood ash solution is 26 oz of wood ash
and 15 quarts of water for one LB. of dry fiber. To make wood ash as
solution, boil ash in water for half an hour and let it settle overnight.
Next day, sieve the mixture into a stainless steel pot. If some ash
managed to get through the sieve, line the sieve with a sheet of paper
towel and filter the solution again. The solution is highly caustic - time
for rubber gloves.
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